


Zootopia: So You Want To Be a Cop (novel format) (in progress)

by wrgarou



Series: Zootopia Between the Times [2]
Category: Zootopia (2016)
Genre: Angst, F/M, Fluff, Fluff and Angst, Humor, Interspecies Awkwardness, Police Procedural
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-02-22
Updated: 2021-02-22
Packaged: 2021-03-12 05:00:43
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,003
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29629458
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/wrgarou/pseuds/wrgarou
Summary: This work covers the time between the resolution of the Bellwether caper and the commencement of the next graduating class of the ZPD Police Academy in which Nick Wilde graduates. This period is many months, and was not covered in the original film.This work is in 12 episodes (or chapters), formatted as novel.  This is the author's first adaptation of a script into a novel, and it's going to take some time to do.This work is tagged as having 'f/m' relations, and being for a 'teen plus' audience. Having put that forth, this work is mostly rated 'G' with a few moments of 'PG-13' level violence and 'adult situations.' No characters reveal more than their underwear, and only in a non-intimate manner in those instances.
Relationships: Judy Hopps/Nick Wilde
Series: Zootopia Between the Times [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2157180
Comments: 4
Kudos: 6
Collections: Zootopia





	Zootopia: So You Want To Be a Cop (novel format) (in progress)

**Author's Note:**

  * Inspired by [Zootopia: So You Want To Be a Cop (script format)](https://archiveofourown.org/works/29366754) by [wrgarou](https://archiveofourown.org/users/wrgarou/pseuds/wrgarou). 



> This work is presented in a 'novel' format, for a couple of reasons: 
> 
> 1) A few readers of the earlier 'script' installation had said that this could be a compelling read if only it were in a more conventional format. I believe that this story is a good one, and I want to bring it to as many people as I can. Thus, it must be reworked.
> 
> 2) I need to work on my writing style, and this is as good a place as any to do so.
> 
> Since this is my first posted work in this format, I am most definitely open to hear feedback from the readers. Feel free to comment, critique, criticize, suggest, recommend, lambaste or otherwise express your feelings about this work or my style in general. I am a student; I am here to learn.

[ in progress -- partial post ]

chapter 1.1

It was a day very much like any other day, a quiet yet still somehow bustling morning in Savanna Central. Like every other day, the mammals of this great city went about their business in their own way. Most of them did so without any problems, and those were the ones that required almost no attention from the ZPD.

Corporal Tom Schwarzwolf and Officer Judy Hopps were going about their business that morning on the streets of Buxtown, a mid-town neighborhood populated mostly by deer and similar ungulates. Schwarzwolf and Judy weren't looking out for the ones who needed no help nor broke any law; they were looking for the ones who needed their direct attention.

'Keep your eyes open,' Schwarzwolf reminded Judy as they turned from a residential street into the business area. 'This neighborhood is full of jaywalkers, a lot of traffic accidents.'  
Judy leaned forward in her seat, her eyes just over the bottom of the window. She was in a squad car designed for large wolves like Schwarzwolf, not one designed for mammals like her. It was moments like this that she truly felt the difference between herself and the rest of the squad; perhaps the entire Department. 

When Judy joined the ZPD, she thought her career was going to be one non-stop adventure. That's what she trained for in the Academy, and that's what the first week of her career was. Yet here she was in one of the quieter neighborhoods, watching out for jaywalkers. The reality of police work is that it's mostly dull, and the last few days had taken on a pattern that Judy found to be monotonous.

Judy lurched forward as Schwarzwolf slammed on the brakes. A young buck stopped dead in front of the squad car and stared directly at the windshield with a blank expression, too startled for words. Schwarzwolf leaned out his window and barked, 'Pay attention, you! Cross at the crosswalks, that's what they're for!'

'Ah... sorry,' the deer stammered as he retreated to the sidewalk.

'You'll get a citation next time,' Schwarzwolf warned as he slowly drove onward.

'Pay attention, Hopps,' he said to Judy as they drove onward. 'Bogo wants to step up ticketing in this area. Maybe they'll cross at the crosswalks if enough of them have to be reminded with a fine. {grr} I sometimes wonder why there even are crosswalks around here, they never use them.' Not even a minute passed before Schwarzwolf braked hard just a metre short of an elderly white-tail and a young buck apparently guiding her across the street.

'This one's yours, Hopps; they both get tickets.' 

Judy sighed as she slid out the door with a ticket book. The two deer had returned to the sidewalk, still somewhat startled. 

'This is for your own safety..' Judy started as she wrote out the first citation. This is the real police work: writing tickets for deer who can't see the crosswalks. Nothing compared to solving a mystery involving 14 missing mammals and a master criminal, but it was at least an honest living. And so their day went, saving lives one at a time merely by not running over the residents of Buxtown, and generating no small amount of ticket revenue for the city.

Hours later, Judy was in the locker room and glad to be headed elsewhere. With her was Layla Otieno, a fellow 'transplant' to Zootopia. Layla, a young and sociable lioness, was from one of the countries in Africa where lions were an indigenous species. She was also new to the city, and Judy found some comfort in her friendship with her. They were both from 'out of town, and both females in a largely male-dominated profession. 

Layla was already in 'street clothes' when Judy arrived, and was pulling a snug t-shirt over her wide hips. They both smiled at each other as Judy unbuckled her vest.

'How's patrol with Schwarzwolf working out?'

Judy sighed, exhausted but not from doing too much. 'It's coming along. We're mostly writing tickets in Buxtown. I'm hoping there's more to it, you know?'

'That's police work for you,' Layla replied. 'Mostly the same old same old.'

'Chief Bogo wants me to take the pistol class,' Judy replied as she hung up her vest. 'So that's a change.'

'Good on you!' Layla said with a wide smile 'You must be on track for something more than patrol.' More than writing tickets, Judy hoped. 'So what's going on after work? Are you coming to the Shield?'

The Shield was a bar not far from the ZPD HQ and First Precinct, and it was definitely a cop's bar. Its original name was long lost to history; it has been the Shield for as long as it's been owned by an elder of the Police Guild Local 91. It was the first bar that Judy had spent any appreciable amount of time in, there not being many bars in Bunnyburrow. It's a cop's bar and it's where Judy could be with her comrades, but it was still a noisy, boisterous bar. Not exactly Judy's sort of place to spend her free time, even if it was with cops.

'Another night at the Shield? As much as I like that place, I'd like to be with folks I can relate to.'

'You mean folks like us? The Shield is the place,' Layla replied. 'We're like you, all of us.'

'All cops, and that's fine,' said Judy, 'but I meant mammals like me. More like me than most cops.' Actually, more like Judy than any other cop in the city.

'More like you? You mean, with tall ears and tiny tails? That kind of 'like you?''

'Exactly,' Judy said absently as she felt more alone than she had ever felt, even though she was surrounded by her friends and peers.

'You want Little Hasenburg in Precinct 4,' said Layla. 'Take the Z Loop to Walnut Street, you're there.'

[/ in progress -- partial post ]


End file.
